MDM Observatory 2.4m Telescope Observer's Report for 2002 Jan 20

Observer(s): John Thorstensen
Institution(s): Dartmouth College

Instrument: Modspec + echelle

Worked for 13 hours (all night)
Conditions were Photometric most of the night.
Problems were encountered, see the separate trouble report for details.

Seeing and Weather:
   Beg: Seeing 1 arcsec, Clear, Winds Calm
   Mid: Seeing 1 arcsec, Clear, Winds Calm
   End: Seeing 1 arcsec, Clear, Winds Calm

Observing Summary:

Excellent photometric night, lovely.  Ambient temperature
gradually grew warmer during the night, mirror had been
overcooled a bit (it was bitter last night) but seeing seemed
mostly pretty good.  

Very minor troubles to report:
1) The RA drive squealed a little bit from time to time, but
it never started binding up like the other night.  Much quieter
squeaking too.
2) The dome was a little reluctant to close.  I had to run it
onto the contacts a couple times before it would continue to 
close without the button being held down.  Reported here only
in case it's an indication that something needs attention. 
Incidentally, the dome is otherwise behaving itself well.
3) The plywood bottom of the console room bench (where the
observer sits) is a real sliver (not silver!) mine.  If you
lean back with your legs touching the bench, or run your hand
along the bottom, you may get a sliver.  It'd be nice to put
some counter-top material along the bottom or something to 
avoid this.
4) The slit-viewing optics did not slip; after extensive
engineering analysis by a tiger team of experts, I decided
to install a restraining device consisting of adhesive-backed
flexible plastic electrical insulating material.  

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Submitted on 2002 Jan 21 [7:27:59]